This image pops up on my Vista monitor screen every few minutes and I have no idea as how to determine where it is coming from. Other than being a complete nuisance it does not appear to have any other effect on my system or operation of any program. It looks like an old DOS command line function but no matter which technique I use to dispense with it (typing "exit", pushing the "X" button, etc.) it still keeps popping up on a regular basis whether I am actually using a program or not. [attachment=88841os_Command_Screen.png]

Thank you Joe and Ted for the suggestions. I have tried all three of the suggestions but I find no references or indicators that seem to be connected in any way with this particular problem. The tools were very useful to help sort out what is actually going on in the system. It probably is more a matter of me not being experienced enough to ferret out what would want to signal for the cmd.exe to start. There are a few items in the lists shown that I might want to put the "quietus" on but they do not seem to be connected in any way with the need to run the dos cmd.exe file.

I have tried all three of the suggestions but I find no references or indicators that seem to be connected in any way with this particular problem. The tools were very useful to help sort out what is actually going on in the system. It probably is more a matter of me not being experienced enough to ferret out what would want to signal for the cmd.exe to start. There are a few items in the lists shown that I might want to put the "quietus" on but they do not seem to be connected in any way with the need to run the dos cmd.exe file.

If you care to you can post a screenshot of the output from one or more of the programs and someone here would be look at it.

Also, have you used Task Manager to see if there is a process running that looks unusual to you.

Rather than take up your time with trying to examine the output of these suggested programs, I just performed a "restore" function back to a point close to the first of the month and it would appear so far that I have gotten rid of the offending pop-up window. I am going to try to be more alert to what I am downloading so I can try to pinpoint the problem if it shows up again. Thanks for your help. I love the Windows Secrets newsletter and enjoy all the different editors and their offerings to us plebians and experts alike. I also appreciate the fact that there are many volunteers who can function as moderators on these lounge threads. Thanks again for your help.
TCM